here in new york city, commerce has been crippled. and power is not expected to be restored in many areas until next week. i.h.s. global predicts that if the areas affected by sandy lose a quarter of their output for just two days, it would knock about $25 billion off u.s. economic growth in the fourth quarter. that could be as much a 0.6%. but longer-term, some of the financial losses should be recovered by repair and rebuilding efforts. home improvement stores like home depot and lowes will likely get a boost in sales. many construction jobs will be created to rebuild homes and businesses. and governments will be spending huge amounts of money to repair subways, roads, and bridges so all of those efforts should help boost econoc activity early next year. erika miller, "n.b.r.," new york. >> susie: joining us now for a closer look at sandy's economic impact, mark zandi, chief economist at moody's analytics. you know, mark, people often hear that when there's a sdater like zandi, that it's actually a boost to the economy. is that goin